How does the nature of the solute affect boiling point?
1 Answer
The solute raises the boiling point by an amount that depends on the number of particles it contributes go the solution.
Boiling point elevation is a colligative property. It depends only on the number of particles in the solution. The formula for boiling point elevation is
where m is the molality of the solution,
Non-electrolytes do not dissociate when they dissolve. Thus, one mole of glucose will provide one mole of particles, and i = 1.
NaCl dissociates into Na⁺ and Cl⁻ in water. So if you have 1 mol of NaCl, you have 2 mol of particles and i= 2. For CaCl₂, i = 3, for FeCl₃, i = 4, etc.
EXAMPLE
Calculate the boiling point of a 0.15 m aqueous solution of sodium chloride.
Solution
Here is a video of a lab examining this topic.
Here is a video which shows some sample calculations of boiling point elevation.
videos from: Noel Pauller